Crawler dozers (hereafter “dozers”), motor graders (hereafter “graders”), and other bladed work vehicles are well-suited for spreading, shearing, carrying, and otherwise moving relatively large volumes of earth. For this reason, dozers and graders are often utilized in tandem when removing or redistributing earth to impart a tract of land (hereafter an “open ground worksite”) with a final grade or surface contour. Grading of an open ground worksite is commonly performed in two or more phases. During an initial rough cutting phase, dozers and possibly other work vehicles, such as tractor-scrapers, are utilized for bulk earth moving purposes. A fine grading phase may then be performed after the rough cutting phase is completed. During fine grading, graders may be utilized to create a finished grade across the upper surface of the open ground worksite, for example, corresponding to a previously-prepared topological map.
Bladed work vehicles are now commonly equipped with blade actuation systems enabling an operator to manipulate a work vehicle's blade in multiple degrees of freedom (DOFs). In the case of a crawler dozer, for example, an operator may be able to adjust the height, pitch, and rotational angle of the blade through an electro-hydraulic blade actuation system, which is integrated into a blade control assembly mounting the blade to a forward portion of the dozer. Similarly, in the case of a grader, an operator may be able to adjust blade height, blade pitch, and blade rotational angle, as well as the lateral position of the blade relative to the grader chassis within certain limits. Such multi-DOF blade movement provides a powerful and flexible tool in earthmoving operations. However, as the freedom of blade movement increases, so too does the complexity of the operator controls utilized to control blade movement. This, in turn, provides greater opportunities for sub-optimal positioning of the blade and increases the mental workload placed on an operator of the bladed work vehicle.
Advanced Grade Control Systems (GCSs) have been developed for automatically controlling the blade height and cut depth of graders and other bladed work vehicles. In contrast, such systems may not provide automatic control and optimization of blade pitch. The manner in which blade pitch is controlled during a grading operation can directly affect productivity, fuel consumption, and other measures of work vehicle efficiency. A skilled operator can improve work vehicle efficiency by maintaining the blade pitch at an optimal angle when operating a bladed work vehicle. However, the optimal blade pitch angle may vary with multiple dynamic factors including cut depth, material type, material density, moisture content, and so on. Consequently, it can be difficult for even a skilled operator to consistently maintain blade pitch within an optimal range throughout a grading operation or other task, while simultaneously controlling the various other operational parameters of the work vehicle.